You know how it goes.

You prepare a beautiful image or video of your freelance work, craft an expert text about your services, tee it up with the perfect emojis (🔥) and click post. But then...

Crickets

Is social media full of opportunity or a desolate wasteland?

It depends on how you use it!

And the truth is, most of us don't understand how to use social media properly for our businesses.

Why don't people engage with your posts and how can you change that while generating more meaningful online interaction with clients and peers?

Keep reading to find out!

How Do People Use Social Media?

Please pay attention and commit to memory the following chart:

Have you noticed what isn't in the first, second, or even third place for reasons why people use social media?

To research/find products (in our case services) to buy.

Yes, the results are in and have been for a while.

People don't go to social media to make transactional decisions.

And if that's the case, why are you trying so hard to sell something there?

You wouldn't use a hammer when the task at hand requires a screwdriver, so why use social media for a purpose it simply isn't made for?

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How to Promote Yourself Effectively

Look at that chart again and consider what people are really on social media for and how you can actually use these platforms to your advantage:

1 | News and Current Events

Yes, many people stay up-to-date through their social feeds.

If people are posting about something in great numbers, it must be newsworthy.

What can you do with this information?

Become a source of news for your community and customers!

Freelance audio consultant Martin Rieger has crushed this with a blog that keeps his B2B customers informed on the current developments of spatial audio technology and how it relates to their businesses.

He has become one of the best sources of information on his niche topic and when he shares his helpful posts on LinkedIn, you can bet people are paying attention!

By adding value through breakdowns of current events related to your niche, you can subtly but powerfully advertise your expertise and generate loads of goodwill with potential customers that will no doubt be paid back in time.

2 | Funny or Entertaining Content

A lot of us are entertainers or do work that is entertaining in nature.

So why not use entertainment to appeal to our customers?

Check out the heap of flaming funk that is Alex Moukala and get a masterclass in entertaining content that drives business.

He's as cool as this Alex but 1000% funkier.

Alex started posting his very cool, very epic arrangements of music from pop culture & video games on Youtube a few years ago and it was a beautiful and genius way to attract attention to his musical chops.

Because let's face it: most people aren't scrolling their feeds to stop and spend a few minutes just sitting and listening to new compositions from random freelance composers.

However, when they see funk covers of world-famous video game music in their feed, you better bet your ass they are gonna stop and check it out!

By doing this, Alex is not only entertaining the masses.

He is also using his dope covers as a stepping stone for people to discover and be impressed by his skills!

Can you also find a creative and clever way to entertain your customers while showcasing your talent?

3 | Networking with Other People

This last one is the simplest tool in the social media toolkit but it is still incredibly powerful.

Let's imagine for a moment that social media is an actual networking event:

How many people do you think you would attract and impress if you simply walked up to groups of strangers and said:

Hey, I'm a freelance graphic designer. Here's my card.

Hey, I'm a freelance fitness coach. Here's my card.

Hey, I'm a freelance sound designer. Here's my card.

You'd probably get kicked out of the event!

And yet this is the approach to marketing that many freelancers have chosen.

They use social media to post, but they never participate.

This is not how you level up in a career that is built off of relationships and reputation.

You would never make friends talking solely about yourself at a party, so why would that approach work on social media?

You may or may not believe in karma, but when you have a reputation for being a positive voice in your industry and engaging thoughtfully with the content your clients and peers create, that 's gonna pay off!

Instead of scrolling through your feed looking for customers to cold-message about work, start leaving positive comments on their posts.

Gary Vee calls this the $1.80 Strategy and it works as follows:

Leave your personal .02 cents on the top 9 trending posts for 10 different hashtags that are relevant to your brand or business every single day. By the end, you haven’t just left your .02, but a full $1.80 of thoughts online in the specific category, niche or industry you want to become a part of.

The way to win on social media is to actually be social.

You want to not only build influence but also build community and become part of the conversation online.

Becoming a genuine voice in your niche online is a great way to make everyone aware of you and your services without shoving it down their throat, which ends up getting you the exact opposite of the results you want for your business.

Takeaway

Social media is one of the most powerful tools freelancers have for marketing their services but only if it is used properly.

Remember that content is for your customers.

This applies to your social media presence as well.

"Don't use social media to impress people; use it to impact people."

Dave Willis

If you show up online to serve yourself and not your customers, you can expect to get the same reaction as that person who walks up to strangers and says:

Hey, I'm a freelancer. Here's my card.

Hey, I'm a freelancer. Here's my card.

...#FAIL

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